AFRICAN ROAD MAINTENANCE FUNDS ASSOCIATION (ARMFA)
7 – 9 NOVEMBER 2005
The African Road Maintenance Funds Association (ARMFA) is an organization bringing together institutions that manage and administer Road Maintenance Funds in Africa. Currently the organization consists of twenty three member countries. The principal objectives of ARMFA are:
With the above objectives in mind, ARMFA holds meetings annually. The first, second and third meetings were held in Gabon, Togo and Kenya respectively. The fourth meeting, and which this report covers, was held in Tanzania. The meeting included a technical workshop on 7th November 2005 and the 4th General Assembly meeting on 8th November 2005. The programmes for both the technical workshop and the General Assembly are appended as Annex 1. After the General Assembly, the participants visited a road construction project linking Makuyuni and Ngorongoro. The information on the features of the project was provided during the visit. The participants also toured the Ngorongoro conservation Area and were provided a document explaining about the Area.
2.0 OPENING SESSION
The meeting was officially opened by the Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania. Prior to the chief guest’s opening address, the ARMFA President (Chairman) Mr. Assiba AMOUSSOU-GUENOU welcomed the participants to the meeting and thanked the Tanzanian organizers for the excellent reception and facilities provided for the members of the Association. He expressed the gratitude of the Association to the government of the United Republic of Tanzania for the special interest it has shown in our Association by the presence of the Honourable Prime Minister. He also thanked the partners of the Association for their presence and continuous support. President AMOUSSOU-GUENOU then traced the life of the Association from its birth in Libreville to the 4th Annual meeting holding in Arusha. He said the themes of the technical workshop were important, current and perfectly in keeping with the implementation of some of our statutory objectives such as the promotion of an efficient management of the Road Funds; the exchange of information and experiences in order to share the best practices in the collection of resources and financing of road maintenance in Africa. He reminded members that Road Funds are key actors in a priority sector of the economy of our countries. Mr. Olav Ellevset, the representative of the SSATP, then took the floor to deliver a statement from SSATP.
Mr. Ellevset, on behalf of SSATP, recognized the significant progress achieved by Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) countries towards securing road maintenance funds. He however observed that while there are now 24 Road Funds established in SSA, only 12 countries have Road Agencies in place. He reiterated the SSATP’s push for sustainable financing and sound management practices being the two building blocks for any successful sustainable road sector reform. He mentioned the studies initiated by SSATP for the purpose of assessing the performance of the Roads Funds and Agencies.
The other dignitaries who addressed the participants are the Tanzania Road Fund Board Chairperson, Mr. Phillip Magani and the Tanzania Deputy Minister for Works, Mr. Hamza Mwinyegoha. While Mr. Magani’s speech mainly discussed the Tanzania Roads Fund structure, functions and achievements, the Deputy Minister’s speech was more of a welcoming remarks and an expression of appreciation for the support given by various institutions to making the meeting a reality. He however urged the participants to discuss seriously the issue of corruption at the heavy vehicle weighbridges when discussing the collection of overloading fees. He insisted that overloading fees should not be expected to be a source of the Roads Fund revenue but rather a deterrent to reduce overloading.
The opening speech was delivered by the Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office, Mr. William Lukuvi, who started by giving a history of funding of roads in the late 60’s when the country’s economy was good but failed to sustain the funding levels by early 80’s when the economy suffered and the gap between public expenditure and aggregate supply widened. This led to deterioration of the road network leaving a mere 15% of trunk roads and 10% of the Local Government roads in good condition. The situation made Tanzania to undertake reforms that led to establishment of a Road Fund and the Road Agency. The Prime Minister then discussed in depth the importance of transportation in general, and that of roads in particular, to the economic growth of nations and the reduction of poverty. He stressed on the need to maintain the roads so as to avoid high costs of rehabilitating them due to premature failure. The Prime Minister discussed the need for increasing the budgets for road maintenance to meet the demands. He listed steps to be considered by the countries to ensure availability of a good road network. He ended his speech by wishing the participants a memorable stay in Tanzania.
3.0 TECHNICAL WORKSHOP
The technical workshop’s themes were ‘Mechanism of collecting Road Fund revenues’ & ‘Negotiations for widening Road Tariffs.’ A total of 74 participants from 22 countries namely; Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia, participated in the workshop (List of participants attached as Annex 2.)
The workshop was conducted in a manner that permitted all participants to be fully involved in the discussions, making it possible for them to reach consensus on key issues and on the way forward. The workshop was of plenary sessions where a paper on progress of reforms in the road sector in Sub Saharan Africa was presented by SSATP and thereafter, Zambia, Chad, Benin, Lesotho, Namibia, Burundi, Cameroon and Tanzania presented their experiences on collection of fuel levies, road tolls, transit fees and overloading fines as sources of revenues for the Roads Funds. On widening of road tariffs, the Ghana and Cameroon cases were presented.
The following are the highlights of the findings from the presentations:
i) Sources of Road Fund Resources
Fuel levy
Road Tolls
Transit Fees
Weight Control Fines
ii) Fuel Levy
Fuel levy is the main source of Roads Funds (70 – 95%)
Rate varies between 3 – 11 US Cents/liter,
Collection mostly through other services,
Direct channelling in most cases,
Fuel levy not adjusted regularly.
iii) Road Tolls
Collection mostly by private sector;
Direct channelling of funds to Roads Funds;
Incorporated with weigh bridges in Benin;
Rates vary from country to country:
Fixed rates
Variable (with size & type of vehicle)
iv) Transit Fees
Collected from foreign vehicles;
Collected by private sector and Customs;
Rates based on category of vehicle;
Rates vary from country to country;
Direct channeling to Roads Funds accounts.
v) Weight Control Fines
Vehicle weighing is dissuasive measure to control overloading.
Most weigh bridges are under concessions;
Fines vary even in the same zone like CEMAC.
Congestion at weighbridges – need dynamic weighing equipment to reduce congestion;
Management of off-loaded cargo – esp. classified cargo such as explosives.
vi) Negotiation for Widening of Road Tariffs
No common basis for negotiating the widening of road tariffs.
Keep rates level as low as possible.
Boards should be able to justify reasons for having increased rates of user charges.
Need to have procedure for adjusting or increasing rates of user charges.
After the presentations, participants discussed the problems and successes experienced by the various countries and also referred to their own experiences. They agreed that there are considerable achievements but there are still a number of challenges. They also agreed on the way forward for the African Roads Funds.
3.1 Achievements:
Roads Fund and Boards have been established by legislation and are operational.
24 Roads Funds have been established in SSA.
There are a number of sources for Road Fund revenues including Fuel levy; Overloading fines/fees; Transit fees; Cross border charges; License fees; Road Tolls, etc.
Private sector has a majority of members in Roads Fund Boards in some countries.
Some countries have a ‘transport policy’.
Monitoring & Evaluation systems are in place.
Technical and Financial Audits are being carried out by independent firms.
Funds are channelled directly to the Road Fund accounts in most countries.
Legislation for controlling overloading exists in some countries.
There is improved awareness by transporters on axle load control in some countries.
Overloading has reduced in some countries.
Collection of overloading fines has been privatized in some countries.
Statistics on overloading determined and recorded in some countries.
There is improved performance in the collections of revenues.
Some Road Funds are fully autonomous.
Information is communicated to Government and Road Users on activities of the Roads Funds.
Some countries have a policy on User charges.
Institutional reforms are on-going at different stages in different countries.
3.2 Challenges:
Only 12 road agencies are established.
Inadequate funding for road maintenance.
Revenue losses in collecting fuel levy.
Inadequate Management capacity.
Political interference in management of Road Funds.
Tolls gates operated manually due to lack of electricity;
Not all revenue collected at Toll gates due to loopholes in collection process. (leakages & non collections);
Maintaining electronic equipment for toll gates in harsh conditions;
Exemptions to tolls;
Relationship between concessionaire and the local communities living near the toll stations as they need to benefit from existence of the Toll gates;
Concessionaires at Toll gates not remitting all revenue collected as per contract;
Damage to roads due to overloading. Transporters prefer paying the fines or fees;
Old weighbridge equipment – frequent breakdown;
Congestion at weighbridges;
Management of classified cargo such as explosives;
Review of legislation to cope with change in technology regarding overload control;
Regulation silent on safety of weighbridge operator;
Inadequate budget for operations of weighbridges;
Where the Road Fund should be placed. (Ministry of Finance or Works).
Exemption of non road users from paying Fuel levy e.g. Railways.
Disbursement of funds to implementing agencies.
Not many countries have a roads sub sector policy.
There is a huge backlog of maintenance and rehabilitation.
3.3 The Way Forward:
Funds should be channelled directly to the Road Funds.
Intensify monitoring & evaluation on road fund utilisation.
Collection of funds should be intensified and systems put in place to minimise revenue loses. Collect fuel levy at import or production points.
Contracts with Concessionaires at Toll gates need to be improved to ensure maximum revenue collection.
Review legislation regarding overloading control to cope with changes in technology and loopholes.
Road Fund Boards enter into contracts with collecting Agencies for the different sources of revenue.
Cross border charges should be based on weight and distance travelled and not on category of vehicles.
Weighbridges should be computerised to enhance their management and transparency.
Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) or dynamic equipment should be introduced to reduce congestion at weighbridges.
Local Area Networks and Wide Area Networks should be used to control management of revenue collections.
Need for road management restructuring.
Need for equitable distribution of road user charges.
Keep rates level as low as possible.
Boards should be able to justify reasons for having increased user charge rates.
Need to have procedure for adjusting/increasing user charge rates.
Explore possibilities of increasing the number of road users paying user charges instead of increasing the rates of the charges.
Road Fund Boards should continue making proposals to the Government on increasing roads funds.
Consider other ways of maintaining roads e.g. Public – Private Partnerships.
Need for roads sub-sector policy.
Need to consider refunds for non road users e.g. Railways.
4.0 CLOSING SESSION
The workshop was closed by the Regional Commissioner of Arusha region. In his speech read by Arusha Region Administrative Secretary, Mr. Joshua Kilewo, the Regional Commissioner told the participants that Tanzania is targeting to link all the regional headquarters by paved roads by year 2012 but recognize the importance of preserving the network through adequate maintenance. He also observed that there is always a shortage of funds for maintenance and this remains to be a challenge to the countries attending the meeting. The chief guest called for concerted effort in fighting HIV/AIDS which could affect the success of ARMFA as the labour which is required for road maintenance could not be available when required. He finally thanked all those institutions and individuals who had made the meeting a success.
MINUTES OF THE FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE AFRICAN ROAD MAINTENANCE FUNDS ASSOCIATION (ARMFA)
1 Date and Venue:
The General Assembly took place at Arusha in Tanzania on 8th November 2005.
2 Participants:
The member countries that attended the meeting are: Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia. Other countries that attended as observers are: Uganda, Djibouti, Mozambique and Zanzibar. Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Rwanda and Zimbabwe were absent.
3 The Agenda for the meeting was adopted as follows:
3.1 Opening and adoption of Agenda
3.2 Adoption of the report of the Third General Assembly held in Nairobi
3.3 Report of Activities of the Executive Committee for 2004-2005
3.4 Programme of Activities of the Association for 2005-2007
3.5 Examination and Adoption of draft Internal Regulations
3.6 Finances of the Association
3.7 ARMFA budget 2005-2006
3.8 Consideration of applications for membership
3.9 Election of new Executive Committee
3.10 Selection of venue for 2006 General Assembly and theme of technical workshop
3.11 Performance Indicators and RMI matrix
3.12 Any Other Business
3.13 Closing
4 Opening and adoption of Agenda
The chairman, Mr. Assiba ASSOUMOU-GUENOU of Togo opened the meeting at 09.20 hrs. In his welcoming speech he thanked all members and observers present for attending the meeting. The chairman observed that the quorum was attained and the meeting could take place. He then presented the agenda which was adopted as presented
5 Adoption of the report of the Third General Assembly held in Nairobi
The Nairobi report which had previously been circulated to all members was presented by the coordinator and was adopted without amendments.
6 Report of Activities of the Executive Committee for 2004-2005
The report of activities of the Executive Committee for 2004-2995 was presented by the President and adopted. See Annex A
7 Programme of Activities of the Association for 2005-2007
Programme of Activities for 2005 -2007 (Annex B) was discussed and adopted.
8 Examination and Adoption of draft Internal Regulations
The draft Internal Regulations were discussed at length and adopted with some amendments. (Annex C)
9 Finances of the Association
The President presented the state of the Association’s finances. 17 members had paid fees for 2004 while 13 members had paid for 2005. Member countries were urged to pay their dues at the earliest and preferably before the end of the year.
10 ARMFA Budget 2005 - 2006
The President presented the Association’s draft budget for the year 2005 - 2006. After discussions on various activities, some improvements were recommended and the budget for 2005 - 2006 was approved subject to the incorporation of agreed improvements.
11 Consideration of applications for membership
The meeting considered applications for membership from Mozambique, Djibouti and Zanzibar. Mozambique and Djibouti were admitted as members but the application for Zanzibar was rejected for the reason that Zanzibar is not a state but is part of Tanzania which is already a member. This brings the number of member countries to twenty five (25)
12 Election of new Executive Committee
In keeping with the Bylaws of the Association, the term of office for the existing Executive Committee is ending on 31st December 2005. The meeting was requested to elect a new Executive Committee for the period of two years commencing 1st January 2006. The elections were supervised by an Electoral Commission selected to conduct elections. The elections were held by using a secret ballot system and the following were elected as the new office bearers in accordance with the constitution:
President: TANZANIA
1st Vice President: MALI
2nd Vice President: COTE D’IVOIRE
Auditor: KENYA
13 Selection of venue for 2006 General Assembly and theme of technical workshop
Ghana was selected as the venue for the 2006 General Assembly. The theme of Technical Workshop was not chosen during the meeting and it was agreed that the Executive Committee would receive proposals and circulate to members for consideration and make a decision later.
14 Performance Indicators and RMI matrix
A presentation of Key Performance Indicators was done by the ARMFA Coordinator.
The indicators cover the performance of Road Funds, Road Agencies, Contractors and Road network. A questionnaire was distributed to all member countries present at the meeting to complete and submit to the Coordinator at the earliest. The analysis of the answers to this questionnaire will give an indicator of the performance of our Road Funds.
It was reported that out of the 24 Road Funds that were given the questionnaire on the update of the RMI Matrix only 17 had responded. An analysis of the answers to questionnaire was presented by Mustapha Benmaamar of SSATP.
It was agreed that the questionnaire needs improvement on some questions in order to get desired responses. The SSATP representative will arrange to meet individually the Road Fund representatives to clarify the questions.
15 Any other business
There was no any issue discussed under this item.
16 Closing Ceremony
The newly elected Chairman of the Association addressed the meeting during the closing of the meeting. Mr. Joseph Haule, the Manager of the Tanzania Roads Fund, thanked the member countries for showing confidence in Tanzania to lead the association for the coming two years. He assured the member countries that the new executive committee will endeavor to implement the program approved by the General Assembly.
The meeting was closed at 18.15hrs.
Arusha 8 November, 2005